Pregnant Women and Disasters

Student 1 post: Challenges posed by Pregnant Patients in a Disaster or MCI situation During a disaster or MCI situation, supply of basic services such as clean water, food and a good shelter are limited. Shortage of the aforementioned services creates many challenges among those affected by a disaster. Pregnant women form part of the most vulnerable population hence poses the following challenges: Increased risk to infections. Pregnant women may be at risk of infection with flu and other diseases due to exposure to the risk factors. Diseases such as high blood pressure. Disaster incidents could be quite frightening hence exposure may create anxiety among pregnant women which may result to high blood pressure. Premature birth of infants. The stress associated with disaster incidents among pregnant mothers may increase the risk of premature delivery (Zambrana, 2016). This may have secondary effects to the infant and the mother. Delivery outside the hospital. Disasters might interfere with transport and communication network making it difficult to move mothers to hospitals for delivery. Consequently, delivery may take place outside the hospital which may interfere with other disaster response activities. Poor sanitation. Shortage of water during a disaster incident leads to poor hygiene. Consequently, waste and sanitation management may be poor (Ghorbani-Marghmaleki, Mohebbi-Dehnavi & Beigi,2019). Pregnant Women and Disasters

This may lead to outbreak of diseases associated with poor hygiene such as cholera. Depression. Pregnant women easily get more stressed than the rest of the population during a disaster. In this regard, pregnant women may have poor mental health. Consequently, there may be a need for more psychiatrists and other mental health workers(Zambrana,2016). Need for providing extra disaster response items such as extra water and sanitation equipment to promote better hygiene among pregnant mothers. References Ghorbani-Marghmaleki, F., Mohebbi-Dehnavi, Z., & Beigi, M. (2019). Investigating the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and the health of pregnant women. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 8. Zambrana, N. (2016). Mothers in Crisis: Redefining and Expanding the Disaster Law Framework to Address Pregnant Women’s Health Care Needs. U. Pa. JL & Pub. Aff., 1, 121. Student 2 post: During disasters and mass casualty events limited clean water, food, hygiene, and access to medical care provide challenges to all populations. However, there are special requirements for pregnant, delivering and, lactating women. 1. Pregnant women and post-partum women require increased water and caloric intake to support fetal development and breast-feeding. 2. Pregnant exposed to the physical and emotional stress of disasters may deliver prematurely. 3. Pregnant women may have increased medical risks during disasters such as “blood pressure disorders or anemia, and an increased risk of low-birth-weight infants (<2500g)” (Frey, 2019). 4. “Moreover, infectious diseases, such as pandemic influenza, anthrax, Ebola virus, and Zika virus, may disproportionately affect pregnant and postpartum women and their infants. For example, 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza was associated with higher risk for hospitalization and death among pregnant women than the general population.” (Frey,2019). This impact is especially significant with outbreaks of novel diseases and increased globalization. 5. The impact of disaster on the emotional health of a pregnant mother will influence the cognitive and emotional development of her fetus and infant. 6. Inadequate education of health care providers, women, and their family on emergency preparedness and outside of a health-care facility delivery, may lead to increased deaths and complications, for both mother and child, during delivery. References Antipova A, Curtis A. Pregnant Women and Disasters

The post-disaster negative health legacy: pregnancy outcomes in Louisiana after Hurricane Andrew. Disasters. 2015;39(4):665-686. doi:10.1111/disa.12125 Frey MT, Meaney-Delman D, Bowen V, et al. Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Pregnant Women and Infants. Journal of Women’s Health. 2019;28(8):131-1036. doi:10.1089/jwh.2019.7943 Zotti ME, Ellington SR, Perez M, Zotti ME. CDC Online Course: Reproductive Health in Emergency Preparedness and Response. Journal of women’s health (2002). 2016;25(9):861-864. doi:10.1089/jwh.2016.5993 …Pregnant Women and Disasters